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Dr. Gerald J. Fishman, an astrophysicist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., assesses the Burst and Transient Source Experiment, or BATSE, prior to its flight to space in 1991. BATSE was an extremely sensitive gamma-ray detector which flew on NASA's Compton Gamma Ray Observatory from 1991-2000. Fishman, a NASA researcher since 1974, has been named a recipient of the 2011 Shaw Prize in Astronomy for his work on BATSE and subsequent missions to study gamma-ray bursts -- the brightest, most explosive events known to occur in the universe. The awards will be presented at a ceremony in Hong Kong on Sept. 28. (NASA/MSFC)

Dr. Gerald J. Fishman, astrophysicist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., has been named a recipient of the 2011 Shaw Prize in Astronomy, for which he will share a $1 million award. Fishman is being recognized for his leadership in research that has shed new light on the space phenomena known as gamma-ray bursts -- the brightest, most explosive events known to occur in the universe. The awards will be presented at a ceremony in Hong Kong on Sept. 28. (NASA/MSFC)